Apple Releases Safari 16 With Tab Group Start Pages, Cross-Device Syncing for Website Settings, Strong Password Updates and More

Apple today released Safari 16, with the new update bringing some macOS Ventura features to macOS Monterey and macOS Big Sur while we wait for the October launch of the new operating system.

safari icon blue banner
Safari 16 includes Tab Group start pages, support for pinned tabs in Tab Groups, and Tabs in the sidebar. The update also includes cross-device syncing for website settings, and strong password editing for adjusting your passwords to meet various site-specific password requirements.

Safari 16 introduces new features, even faster performance, and improved security, such as:

- Tab Group start pages let you add different background images and favorites for each Tab Group
- Pinned tabs in Tab Groups enable you to pin frequently visited websites for each Tab Group
- Tabs in the sidebar let you see a list view of your open tabs
- Settings you've set for specific websites now sync across devices
- Strong password editing lets you adjust strong passwords to meet website-specific requirements
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Some features may not be available for all regions, or on all Apple devices.

The update also addresses several WebKit vulnerabilities that could track users through web extensions, lead to arbitrary code execution, and lead to UI spoofing. None of these vulnerabilities were known to have been actively exploited, but it is still worth updating to the new browser to get the Safari 16 functions.

Tag: Safari

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Top Rated Comments

BWhaler Avatar
42 months ago
Safari is fantastic. So glad Apple continues to invest in it.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wolfson Avatar
42 months ago

Honest question: why does Apple always provide older versions of macOS with the most recent Safari, but not any other app? Why the exception for Safari? They could just include it in a regular macOS update instead of separating it.
Because a browser is the biggest security risk
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
n-evo Avatar
42 months ago

Safari is sadly chromium based
It's not. Safari uses WebKit as its rendering engine which in turn is a fork of KHTML. Chrome used WebKit in the past as well, but Google switched to it's own WebKit fork called "Blink". Apple never switched Safari's rendering engine over to Blink. Nor is Safari (the app) based on the open-source Chromium project Chrome, Edge and Opera (among others) are based on.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
_Spinn_ Avatar
42 months ago
I'm glad Safari and Firefox exist to counter the Chromium based browsers.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ericg301 Avatar
42 months ago
For 20 years, I only used Safari to download Chrome. But over the summer, after getting annoyed with Chrome and Edge and Firefox, I decided to go all in. It's a bit quirky, especially with extensions, but I'm now finding it a pleasure to use—especially the seamless handoff across mobile devices.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ericg301 Avatar
42 months ago

Reason for lack of extensions is the $100 a year cost for the Apple Developer Program. Chrome lets you publish with a one time $5 fee while the Edge, Firefox and Opera stores are free. But Apple has made it easy to convert a Chrome extension to a Safari one with a simple terminal command.
it's more than just that. I don't like how my Applications folder is now littered with Safari extensions, amongst other complains.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)